Jelle68: Fiction (dystopian)(Left with formatting notes in place, as found in submission.)

Those formatting notes weren't in there when I submitted it, but I do think I understand what happened: I have set my shortcuts for pasting to one be "paste witout formatting" and one be "paste with formatting", I have used the second one when pasting it in from word.On my pc, it showed it with the correct font and everything in the submission, but it must've not shown up on your side.

I have seen some people say "I am going to read them" and so, because I am a nice person, I'll paste it in again without that, Kryssy, if you would like to edit your post too, that would probably be helpfull (I'm sorry for my English here, I'm not in a mood to pay attention to grammar and such )

Those formatting notes weren't in there when I submitted it, but I do think I understand what happened: I have set my shortcuts for pasting to one be "paste witout formatting" and one be "paste with formatting", I have used the second one when pasting it in from word.On my pc, it showed it with the correct font and everything in the submission, but it must've not shown up on your side.

I have seen some people say "I am going to read them" and so, because I am a nice person, I'll paste it in again without that, Kryssy, if you would like to edit your post too, that would probably be helpfull (I'm sorry for my English here, I'm not in a mood to pay attention to grammar and such )

I don't usually show my more "emotional" side on EMC, but I will admit for these writers that you guys really impacted me while reading many these. This past year has been an emotional roller coaster for me and many of the writings here really captured how I've felt over the past year.

I've lost contact with a large portion of my family over the past year due to a series of events that lead to a final decision to cut ties. Without going into details, it wasn't healthy for my immediate family and I to continue having relations with many of my extended family members. This is in despite of years of growing up together and never thinking that these relationships would end.

As such, many of these writings really hit home with me, capturing many of the emotions and reactions I have had over the past year during this whole process. For that, I would like to thank all of the writers. Being gifted with the ability to capture such raw emotions with words is a unique talent. I truly appreciate each of you opening your hearts to the community by expressing those emotions so articulately.

My biggest request to each of you: please don't stop writing. You have a gift, continue to use it and share it with the people around you. We need people like you to help the rest of us better articulate the emotions and experiences we share.

Lol, I was/am Slimewarrior0209 .Writing is a true gift, and nobody that has the same gift can have the same type of gift. Poetry, proses, and books; stories, talking, and even fears change the way you look at things, shape your way of the world, and view yourself. Many of these poetry and proses changed my life, thank you all for the amazing writings. We all are gifted.

*snip*My biggest request to each of you: please don't stop writing. You have a gift, continue to use it and share it with the people around you. We need people like you to help the rest of us better articulate the emotions and experiences we share.

I write, but my pieces are never often shared... and I... am touched by your background, and am sorry for all your losses. My piece especially shows my... losses, I guess is the word for it, and how I processed them... How I was confused, yet learned to move on, though I never have....

I liked reading over the rest of my competition, and I love that everyone had such a gift with their words. I'll be honest, when this competition started, I expected some not great pieces to go in, kinda joking pieces trying to claim a spot in the spotlight and really wanting nothing more than laughs and the spot light. I am glad to see that that wasn't true, at least, in my eyes. Congrats to the winners, and great job to all.

Feel like I don't mind much telling people I was the other winner. As a follow up on that somewhat fictitious story, it ended between me and the girl and here's what I wrote on that if you care to read it.

By random chance we started talking. Maybe it was defined by fate, but asking you for homework led to the biggest change in my life. At that time I was alone in almost every way. I had no reason to live. Talking to you made me smile, and from that moment I knew that there was no way I’d ever want to stop. So I kept at it, we talked, we grew closer, and within a month we had a magical dance at Charity Ball. I was in unknown territory, with you pulling me further and further into it, and there was no way I could escape. Just a few days later you messaged me that you liked me, and I immediately knew that I liked you so much. I don’t think I was ever as happy as I was during those first few months. Nothing else mattered but us. We went on a horrible first date where my entire family showed up, but even then you stuck with me, and slowly we fell in love with each other. Our first kiss was a day after we were official, and while I might have sucked, it was definitely my favorite kiss in our entire relationship. Slowly, you changed me, though I’m not sure I changed you. You brought me out of my shell; showed everyone who I was and what I was like. Doing this brought me a lot more friends and for that I am forever grateful to you. You gave me the push I needed, the change I wanted but couldn’t do on my own. We had a few dates, and for the first three months I was a secret from your family. I never wanted to be a secret because just as I wanted to change, I wanted part of the change to be me being noticed and not just forgotten. Sinking into the background is what I’m best at, appearing almost unnoticeable, and you brought me into the light which was you. You shined so bright and everyone noticed you, whether they liked you or not. You had darkness inside of you, and that’s partially why we worked so well. You needed someone to lift you up on your bad days, and distract you from what was tearing you apart. I filled that role almost perfectly for you. I started loving you so quickly because you showed me your heart and I saw everything that I liked. Those months never failed to make me happy.

Moving on from those first few months, the following summer was definitely one of my hardest. We got caught, and despite you being okay, I was nowhere close to that. You stuck with me, and you were my rock just as I was yours for so much of the year. I missed you so much that summer, and we didn’t have many dates. Even so, my love for you never wavered and I only wanted one thing, time with you. It was so hard for us to spend four weeks apart, you cried on the first night. I feel like this was when we were the closest. We needed each other, and we were all we had. The following school year you got back one of your friends you didn’t have junior year. I never liked Sydney because of how she treated you and her life choices, and she made you happy. I guess I wanted to be the one thing for you, and despite that sounding stupid, being the one meant a lot to me. We saw each other every day, and I had a lot of unhappy days. I don’t know why I was unhappy, but we still stuck together. We never really got a lot of dates with each other, but I guess that’s just how our relationship worked out. Still, I always felt better holding your hand and being with you. You had your ups and downs, but senior year I felt like part of you started going up. Your reliance on me wasn’t as strong and I could tell that. We had less pda, and while we still loved each other it wasn’t always the same. We had to give up a lot of time for something you loved, IASA, and while this was okay, my priority in your life definitely felt smaller. You were my happiness and that’s probably not fair to you. I didn’t have anybody else. Thank you for dealing with me through my good and my bad at that time, and I promise I did my best to be as understanding as I could, but I know it wasn’t always enough. Through all of this I loved you so much, but I’m not sure I ever stopped missing you. When we were together you still didn’t feel close enough to me. After IASA it improved a little, but you were gone a lot at work after school, so I still fought for every moment I could get with you. I don’t regret any of that. You were the light of my life and I wasn’t about to let that go. You changed me. I was alone before, but you showed me that I didn’t like being alone one bit. I wish we had more time when we were happy to be happy together. There’s so much I wish we could have done together.

The summer after that was really uneventful for us. We loved and missed each other and saw each other at work most days, but we acted as friends there. That was okay with me. I just wanted the other part of our relationship, the romantic side to not fall apart, and I feel like it did a little. I think even at that point I was trying to hang on to something that wasn’t always there. Maybe it was and it was hidden behind the rest of your busy life, but it was hard for me. That summer had some ups and downs as well, the concert was great with you, and going to grad parties was always a good reason to be together. I’m not sure how much of the summer I was happy, but I don’t think I would ever call myself the happiest person. We went into college on a really rough start. I missed you so much, but you were a lot happier at college. I feel that a lot of the time the reason we worked so well was because you needed me. You weren’t at the best yourself and in those moments I was the one who was there for you no matter what. You are happy. I wasn’t because you were beginning to live the life you wanted, and despite all we tried to do, you didn’t need me for that life. Sure sometimes we had good moments, but I wasn’t necessary to make you happy. I became just that texting buddy sometimes, and I think our connection to each other really began to fail there. You communicated with me less because you knew I had trouble with so much relating to the change of college. I love you still and I loved you through all of it, but it seems like a lot of the time you barely missed me. Talking to me became a pain for you and I admit part of it was my fault with my constant depressed and negative mood. You’re at a point in your life where you don’t need someone else. You’re happy where you are and some part of me is happy you find that in yourself. I don’t know who I am sometimes, and I’m doing my best to hold on. Thanks for bringing me out of myself just a little, and showing me that sometimes change is okay. I’m a long way from fixed but you did your part, and while it might not be everything I wanted for us, the past two years were good for me. It’s hard for me to move on when I was always thinking of you, every day, every second, but I guess I only have to move forward. It’s hard and I don’t want to. I love you and just wanted to type this to remember that we were happy, and no matter what you did make my world a better world. I just wish we could have done more.